Travels. Thoughts. And more waste of cyberspace.

Category Archives: Music

To regularly update my blog, I decide to have a particular theme to post about weekly.

I love covers – I think they breathe new life to a song. And to be more specific, my favorite covers are those done by indie artists. (Acoustic covers, which are rampant in the airwaves here in the Philippines make my ears bleed. Seriously, you don’t have to make all pop songs acoustic.) Anyway, here are my top three recommended covers:

Hugo – 99 Problems

If you’re watching the voice and have seen the finale for this season, you might be familiar with the hillbilly version of Jay-Z’s hit done by Tony Lucca. I think Tony should have done another song (just like what he did to Spears’ “Baby One More Time”) instead of this. His version sounds a lot like Hugo, only not better (I really can’t say worse, in all fairness to him)

Owl Eyes – Pumped Up Kicks

The original version by Foster The People is already good. But I think Owl Eyes puts more quirkiness in the song. 😀

Starfucker – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Thanks to Steph for introducing me to Starfucker. I find it cute that they covered this song, an 80’s classic sang by a woman.

There are a couple more out there – F+TM’s “Halo”, Tokyo Police Club’s “Since You’ve Been Gone”, etc. If you want to mix up your playlist and don’t want to go full indie, I think covers would be a great way to add something new to famous hits.

The other day, I went to the little city of Eindhoven for an “official” trip.

Image courtesy of Google

Eindhoven is a city in Netherlands where Philips (the light company) started. Ever since, it made Eidnhoven a technology and industry hub. It has also become one of the centers for biomedical technology and engineering. (see Wikipedia for more info about Eindhoven :D)

The place isn’t much different from the other cities here in Netherlands. I had the chance to explore another city since I went down the wrong station. Haha. (After a few minutes in the commercial plaza, I checked Maps on my phone for directions, then realized I was in the wrong city hahaha)

Sightings:

"Smartest Region in the World"

Cute installation by Coosje van Bruggen. Check her out for her other sculptures around the world!

The city also houses one of the top universities in the world – Eindhoven Univeristy of Technology. That is the reason why this trip is an “official” trip, I had to go see the university with my own eyes. Being inside the campus of a university in another country just feels so surreal.

But the real highlight of this little trip is watching The Boxer Rebellion. You might have heard of the band because of the movie “Going the Distance”. I’m not really familiar with all of their songs, but since they sound good, and I really want to catch a gig while I’m here, I grabbed the chance to watch their show.

The show was held in a music hall called Effenaar. It was my first time watching a show alone so I had to explore the place by myself. The venue was really small, well, compared to A-Venue Hall or Araneta. This is the perfect concert set-up coz you get to enjoy the concert more, you can even talk to the band since the stage also isn’t that high.

And no, I wasn’t able to make new friends during the gig. Haha. I was too out-of-place (I think people are giving me kinda strange looks for looking like a lost Asian girl) and nervous (because of the cups of cappuccino I drank). I also had to leave early to catch the last bus ride going home, or else, I need to take a cab which is not just expensive but also rare after 12mn. But overall, it was a great experience! What’s not to enjoy with a day (including the part where I got lost haha) ended by a great night of music? 😀